Wichita eagle., 1887-04-10

/
ignorance of the charge against him, and
any endeavor on his part to gain informa-
ton on the subject is an offense il law. He
is not allowed to SOC copy Of his own
evidence or that Of tho witnesses. But
when the judge has failed to obtain con-
fessson tho prisoner is Unexpectedly con-
fronted with one or moro Of the witnesses
egainst him, or with an nccomplice, if
there be one, in the hopes Of surprising him
into confession. Should the prisoner re-
fuse to answer ho is put On a diet of bread
, and water. In CASES Of murder the &C.
cused is led to the spot where the crime was
committed, and the bleeding corpse or, may
be, the rloldering remains ere suddenly
shown to lin. Torture used to be employed
to wiring confession from him. He was
subjected to thunbscrew, the rcc,1 and to
fire. Sometimes be was kept for months
during winter without fire, and in damp
cells where he was ogonized with rheunla-
tisIn and ague. The cases Gro innuIner-
able in which false confessions of guilt were
thus e1torted from innocent persons
| Others have committed suicide rather than
confess to crimes they had not committed.
The examining judge now proceeded
vigorously to collect proofs of Marie's guilt.
He took the evidence of Lampert on oath.
In that evidence Lampert acknowledged
that he could find no signs Of his lock hay
ing been tampered with nor Of the seal hav
ing been forced. Nevertheless, hc was Gble
to swear, By the date of the ducat found in
Marie's pocket, that it was one OF those
pieces Of coin which he had sealed up in his
leather pouch and locked into the chest.
Marie was Questioned She Acknowledged
cl,a ha hnTl-
room and whore the Golfer was 20 tidy tho
room end prepare the bed for her master.
Usually sho had with her the daughter of
her master. She confessed that she had
been engaged in the room on the evening
preceding the discovery. Also she admitted
that the dress in the pocket Of which the
ducat was found was one of her own, and
one moreover which she had worn on that
very evening Nevertheless, she persisted
in her assertion that she was entirely inno-
cent Of the charge.
The mother of the girl was next cross
examined by the judge. The poor woman,
| like SO many Of the uneducated, thought to
save her daughter by having recourse to
falsehood. It is q curious fact that the un-
cultured in a civilized land, Ike the savage,
regards lying as q natural means Of protec-
wrong, to have recourse to. Frau Keller,
confronted with the judge, at once, and
naturally, fell back on lying. When asked
whence her daughter had obtained the due
at the poor woman said that it was a god
mothers present to Marie, which she tthe
mothep had formerly retained in ksr pos
| session, but which she had given to Marie
when she went into Lampert's service, be-
CHI lost in of bpr
own death, her other children might seize
or the ducat and refuse to give it up to
Marie.
The poor woman, in telling this story,
completely broke down the doubt which
the judge had felt hitherto in Mariss guilt.
He looked at the ducat, and it proved by
the date ON it to have been struck four
years after Maries birth. The judge at
once charged the woman with c6Nhiving at
her daughters guilt and showed her how
false was her evidence on the testimony Of
the date on the ducat. This completely up
set Frau Keller; she was unable to speak
for some minutes, and at last, in broken
and hesitating voice, told tho judge that
Maries' mistress had sent for her and offered
her the money to indemnify Lampert for
his loss, If she would confess that her daugh-
ter had committed the theft and persuade
Marie to DO so as well.
The judge was SO irritated at tho woman's 8
lie about the ducat that he dismissed this
new story rs q fabrication as false as the
former, and made no inquiry in that direc-
ton. He ordered Marie to be brought into
the room, and asked her whether she lad
been given ducat By her mother, which
had been a christening present from a spon-
so-. Tho girl expressed surprise at the ques
ton, ard il her simplicity replied that she
had never had such present.
Then be confronted tho mother with the
daughter
Frau Keller, confused, and in her con-
fusion having recourse to her original false
hood, insisted that what she had said was
true concerning the ducat, that liarie was
q half witted creature who forgot tho sim
plest things told her. Mario. on her side,
entreated her mother, for Gods sake, to
speak the truth. She persisted in asserting
that her mother never had told her about a
christening present, and certainly had given
her none
Tho end of this alteration was tat Frau
Keller confessed she had tod lie, and
entreated forgiveness, because she had
been inlTellcd by love for her daughter to
Go ell in her power to screen her from the
charge OF theft end TO save her life.
The inQuiring judge now demanded that
Marie should bs put on the rack, and be
forced to confess her guilt The court
appointed u counsel for tho defence, WHO
opposed this demand.
lie pointed out that there was no trust
worthy evidence against Marie. 1t was
true tIat Herr Lampert had lost money; but
what proof was there that it had been taken
by the accused. Was 1t possible that
rude, uneducated girl could have contrived
a theft SO craftily that the smallest trace of
tampering with the lock and seal was not
be discovered? 1t behooved tho accuscr to
show that she had the keys and the signet
Of Lanpers in her power, and this could
not be shown. Ee declared that he always
carried both about with him, and had never
missed either for single day How was
she to know that the Golfer contained
money, when she was never present when it
was opens For ausht she knew it might
havo contained legal documents It was
quite trio that she was allowed to enter tho
room where the chest was kept, but she
was there almost invariably attended by
Lacnpert's daughter, who assisted in The
Go,neS,ic I;.Ios.
1t was aJto true that ducat had been
found in her pocket; but how cculd Lam
pert swear that it was one OF his ducatsy
Was his ducat the only one coined in that
years Were Dutch ducats such rarities
that cnly his six found their way to Berlins
How the ducat came into her pocket Marie |
was unable to explain; but was it not proba- |
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